1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of accessories for inflatable water vessels having flexible vessel floors, such as inflatable canoes, rafts and kayaks. More specifically, the present invention relates to an accessory mounting structure for use with a seat for placing on the floor of such a vessel. The seat may be as described in a patent previously issued to applicant, and include a cushion on top of a seat box portion which may have a door to serve as a storage compartment. The seat box portion may have holes in the lower corners of its front and rear walls for receiving two parallel pipe sections which fit through these holes when preparing the seat for use. The parallel pipe sections distribute the weight of the seat and seat occupant over a wide area of the vessel floor, preventing the seat from bowing the floor downward and distorting the shape of the vessel. The parallel pipe sections are slid out of the holes when preparing the seat for storage. Alternatively the seat box portion rests on top of the parallel pipe sections.
The inventive seat accessory mounting structure includes an accessory mounting cross-member having a first lateral end and a second lateral end and a mounting port for receiving and passing the elongate member through the mounting cross-member, and an accessory connected to and extending from the accessory mounting cross-member. The accessory mounting cross-member may support a mast assembly, a rudder assembly, or a seat assembly of an alternative design to that of the previous patent to applicant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have thus far been few seats and accessories for use in inflatable boats, canoes and kayaks. None of these seats and accessories has included mast or rudder assemblies. None of these seats and accessories have been provided in an interconnected kit form for rapid assembly and disassembly while functioning to distribute kit and passenger weight broadly over a flexible vessel floor to minimize deformation of the vessel floor.
Hull, U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,753, issued on Apr. 7, 1992, teaches an attachable seat for an inflatable boat. Cross-members deliver the weight of the seat and compartment primarily onto the sides rather than the floor of the boat. A vertical brace member extends to the floor of the boat, but fails to distribute the load over the floor, and is intended to rest on a wooden deck. Thus, this structure is not well suited to soft bottom rafts and canoes. The fishing rod holders are merely half rings, and would not support and hold a rod securely. No provision is made for removably adding boat accessories such as sail and rudder assemblies.
Wayne, U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,910, issued on Sep. 19, 1950, teaches a collapsible boat having a series of ribs connected by an upper rim and lower belts and having a rigid, folding keel. The Wayne seats fit over the rigid keel and use the keel for support. A problem with Wayne is that the keel is a preexisting part of the boat not found on inflatable vessels, and the seats themselves provide no effective weight distribution. Once again, no provision is made for removably adding boat accessories such as sail and rudder assemblies.
Similar and less relevant art is contained in the file history of U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,806, issued on Jul. 5, 1994 to the present applicant. Various types of sail and rudder assemblies for inflatable vessels are known in the industry, but are not suitable for structurally combining with the inventive seat of the referenced prior patent to applicant.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a removable, transferrable accessory mounting structure for the seat for inflatable vessels disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,806, referenced above, which distributes the weight of the seat and occupant widely over the floor of the vessel to minimize vessel deformation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an accessory mounting structure which can mount load-bearing accessories such as a vessel mast assembly and a vessel rudder assembly, and do so either separately or simultaneously.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an accessory mounting structure which is simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture.